March 16, 1895. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
455 
Greenhouse and Cool Conservatory. 
Here great discrimination must be exercised with 
regard to ventilation, as the temperature of the 
house commences to rise early in the day. We 
have lately experienced several sharp frosts at night, 
and fire-heat must be employed to some extent to 
keep up the temperature, but in all cases the heat 
should be turned off the first thing in the morning, so 
as to allow the pipes time to cool by the time the 
sun gets up, or the dry and arid atmosphere that will 
otherwise result will cause many of the plants to 
drop their flowers much sooner than they would 
otherwise do. 
Shading. —Although it is yet too soon in the 
season to shade heavily, still on very bright days 
a little thin tiffany should be placed on the sunny 
side of the house for a few hours in the middle of 
the day to screen plants in flower from the direct 
rays of the sun, but this must not be kept on a 
moment longer than is necessary. A little water 
may also be sprinkled along the paths to aid in 
keeping the atmosphtre cool and moist. There 
should now be no difficulty in obtaining plenty of 
material wherewith to furnish the conservatory. 
Bulbs of all sorts are a host in themselves, and many 
a little glass house is looking gay with them, for the 
great bulk of them flower towards the end of the 
present month. Care must be taken, however, that 
the flower spikes are afforded suitable support, also 
that the water supply is properly attended to. 
Continue to remove any shabby plants to frames 
or pits, where they may complete their growth. 
Pits and Frames. 
In this part of the under-glass department the 
gardener will find his hands pretty full. Many of 
the cuttings of stove and greenhouse plants that 
were inserted some weeks back, and after rooting 
have been removed from the propagating frame and 
placed upon shelves near the glass, must be seen to 
for potting. This should not be delayed any longer 
than can possibly be helped, for the evil effects 
resulting from the leaving of cuttings in their pots 
until their roots become matted together before 
separating them are ob ious. A watchful eye must 
be kept moreover upon the inmates of the propagating 
frame, and as soon as the cuttings are fairly rooted 
they will need a freer circulation of air about them. 
It is manifest that it is not possible to give them this 
whilst they are in the frame along with a variety of 
other subjects in various stages of growth, so they 
should be brought out and placed in a light position 
near the glass to harden somewhat before potting, 
taking care to shade them from hot sun. 
Seedlings. —It is important that any young 
seedlings that are fit for transplanting must not be 
left too long in the seed pans or they will become 
drawn and comparatively worthless. Early sowings 
of Gloxinias and Begonias will by this time have 
produced seedlings quite big enough to handle. As 
soon as they reach this stage they must be pricked 
off into pots or pans filled with suitably prepared 
soil. Take care not to "strip” the young plants, 
that is to deprive them of the delicate fibrous roots 
so necessary to their well-being, and see that the soil 
is worked well round them when pricking off. Give 
a gentle watering with a fine rose-can and shade very 
carefully from the sun. 
Seed Sowing. —The present is a most favourable 
time for the sowing of seeds of most of the 
herbaceous annuals which may be intended either 
for bedding out in the flower garden or for culture 
in pots. The soil used should be passed through a 
fine sieve, and should contain a large proportion of 
sand, as this renders it possible to separate the 
seedlings from each other with the minimum of 
danger to the delicate rootlets. Carefully level the 
surface of the soil in the seed pan, and do not cover 
the seed too deeply, as too deep sowing is account¬ 
able for many failures. As a rule, the operator 
cannot go very far wrong in covering any seeds to a 
depth equal to their own diameter. After sowing, a 
light watering should be given, but not heavy enough 
to wash the soil. Careful shading is an absolute 
essential, whilst a piece of glass placed over the 
seed pan will assist germination, as it serves to keep 
the air, which is in direct contact with the soil 
covering the seed, moist and humid. Sowings of 
Marigolds, both French and African, Tagetes, 
Perilla stocks of various sorts, and Lobelia (where 
necessary), and Phlox Drummondi, may be made as 
soon as convenient. 
Dahlias.—C uttings of these which were taken 
last month, and which should now be well rooted, 
must be potted up without delay, as the plants grow 
away very strongly once they make a start, and soon 
fill the pots with roots. Some cultivators give 
several shifts, the last one being into 32-size pots, 
and thus strong, good-sized plants are obtained by 
the time that it is safe to plant them out. 
Berried Solanums. —Plants of these which have 
dropped their berries and have been removed from 
the conservatory to the shelter of cold frames may 
now be pruned hard back, so as to induce them to 
break into growth in readiness for planting out bye 
and bye, as well as to furnish cuttings for next year's 
supply of plants, or if preferred, a packet of seed 
may be sown in heat. If this latter plan is adopted, 
however, no time must be lost in putting it into 
practice. 
Bedding Plants. —These will need plenty of 
ventilation, and houses or pits filled with them 
should be freely aired on all favourable occasions. 
Pelargoniums must have all the flowers consistently 
removed, the development of w’hich would tend to 
greatly weaken the plant. The tops of any that 
have got rather leggy may be taken off, and if 
necessary, utilised as cuttings. 
Chrysanthemums.— Attend to the potting off of 
the later struck batches of cuttings as they become 
sufficiently rooted. Give abundance of air to those 
which were potted earlier, and which ought now to 
be making nice little plants. The stopping of those 
plants that it is intended to grow on in the bush 
form must also be seen to. Should mildew make its 
appearance, a light dusting of sulphur should be 
given the affected part from a sulphur distributor.— 
A. S. G. 
-- 
Cattleya House : Laelia anceps.— In favourable 
seasons the potting or basketing of this winter¬ 
flowering Orchid would have been done ere this, 
but owing to the low temperature inside and out 
they have not started to root until now, and until 
this takes place we do not care to disturb them, 
therefore we shall now push along wiih all speed in 
this work. Good rough lumps of peat, live moss, 
and some clean potsherds is what they like to grow 
in. Where they have outgrown the pan, pot, or 
basket, do not hesitate to give them a new one, as 
they rather eDjoy a shift than otherwise if done at 
the proper time, i.e., when the new roots are pushing 
from the bulbs made up last year. Too much 
moisture and insufficient light and air are, I believe, 
the chief reasons why so many fail to get strong 
spikes and good, broad, thick flowers. After potting 
keep them on the dry side until the roots have taken 
hold of the compost, as they do not take hold of a 
wet mass of material very readily. This applies to 
all newly-potted plants. Keep moisture about them 
and shade for a time, rather than apply too much 
water direct. 
Miltonia spectabilis will now be in a fit state to 
repan or basket, using good peat and live moss. 
Press the material firmly about the plants, but do 
not bury the rhizomes. 
Cattleya Labiata Warnerii. —This summer¬ 
flowering Labiata will now require attention. Even 
if fresh potting is not requisite, the material should 
be renewed. This, in most cases, can be easily done 
if a little care is exercised in picking out the old 
compost ; a pointed stick or old lab-1 is what we 
generally use for the purpose. The crocks that are 
not removed are well washed by syringing, as recom¬ 
mended in a previous calendar, and allowed to dry 
before again filling in with the new peat, etc. 
Syringing. —Tnis is an important factor in the 
successful culture of these popular plants, and now 
that the weather has taken a favourable turn will be 
frequently called into use for keeping the houses 
sufficiently charged with moisture, for unless heavy 
shading is resorted to the evaporation will be quick. 
We find it necessary to damp down at least twice a 
day now that the sun has some power. 
Shading. -All our blinds are fixed ready for use, 
and, indeed, are in use during a few hours in the 
middle of the day. This, with air judiciously given 
and the damping attended, to makes the house 
agreeable to man and plants. 
Insects. —" A stitch in time saves nine ” is a good 
old saying, and to nothing does it apply more forcibly 
than to the eradication of insects, a good fumigating 
early in the spring saves a lot of after trouble. I 
would therefore advise the use of the vaporiser or 
whatever is in favour of the gardener in all divisions 
at an early date.— C. 
©flattings ftro m ffig HDcrrlCr 
of Science. 
Longevity of Lichens—Short lives and quick 
growth are usually associated with most plants of 
low organisation, of which the common Mushroom 
is a very familiar example. Lichens are compound 
organisms, so to speak, between a fungus and a 
green alga, and there is evidence that they are of 
slow growth, and live for many years, considering 
their dry nature and their habit of living on bare 
stones, slates, and similar hard bodies. The grey 
and yellow or orange crusts upon the roofs of houses 
belong to the great family of Lichens. Dr. Thayer, 
of Philadelphia, in the year 1836, happened to 
examine some patches of Physcia parietina growing 
upon a wall. He made careful drawings of the 
patches and took descriptive notes of them, and in 
1881, or 45 years later, he again examined the patches 
of Lichen, and found that they had made a little 
growth, but had not yet fruited. He concluded that 
the Lichen had not yet reached maturity, but judg¬ 
ing from the rate of growth that had taken place in 
the previous half century, he considered it possible 
for the same plants to be of great age. The spores 
which give rise to them might have been scattered 
in the time of Queen Elizabeth, and seeing that the 
plants were not yet old enough to produce fruit, they 
might go on for centuries to come. The life of a 
man is as nothing compared to that, and the time 
that Lichen has been making preparations for the 
production of spores would have been sufficient for 
an Oak to attain considerable dimensions, and form 
a handsome, fruit-bearing tree. 
The Spider Orchid.—It is often more amusing 
to listen to the public orator as he harangues the 
people on his favourite themes of natural history, 
for the sake of hearing what powers and cunning he 
attributes to the remarkable plants under notice, 
than interesting or instructive to note what he has 
to say. Recently one of these speakers mentioned 
the case of the Bee and Fly Orchids as being 
exceptions to the genera! rule in the matter of 
fertilisation. They were self-fertilising, and did not 
want to bs bothered with buzzing bees and flies, so 
they resorted to the cunning device of so developing 
a lip as to represent a b:e and a fly respectively. 
He said that insects did not resort to those flowers 
which were already visited by others of their kind. 
We doubt whether the Fly Orchid is self-fertilising 
at all. Nor will insects always be deterred from 
visiting flowers that are already occupied, for in 
many cases they quarrel for possession, or when 
they suddenly find themselves in close contact with 
one another. The same speaker continued that 
another British species, the Spider Orchid, conceived 
how it might administer an even more trying shock 
to the nerves of troublesome insects by displaying in 
its orifice the likeness of a large spider. It was 
difficult to account for such ingenious defence, he 
said, and so we should think. Has anyone ever 
determined or discovered that bees or insects of any 
kind have ever seen such rem ark able 1 ikenesses of them¬ 
selves in any of the Orchid flowers mentioned. We 
should more readily forgive the insects if they bowed 
themselves down and worshipped those same like¬ 
nesses, for they might do so without breaking any 
of the commandments. The images or likenesses 
are so far fetched, as applied to bee, fly, or spider, 
that we doubt whether the insects have the intelli¬ 
gence necessary to see them. They are, in fact, only 
fanciful creations of the human brain, and not alsvays 
discernible by the ordinary observer, 
Darlingtonia californica.—The question of 
carnivorous plants is not yet allowed to rest. Mr. 
Meehan, of Philadelphia, has been making some 
observations on Darlingtonia, and he comes to the 
conclusion that carnivorous plants are just as able 
to collect their food from the earth as other plants 
are. There is little or nothing that is new about 
that statement; but it is a fact that the root system 
of several of them are deficient, and the places in 
which they grow are not always well supplied with 
nitrogen, the most important of the substances 
supplied by animal food to the plants in question. 
Mr. Meehan describes the flies as a " gastronomic 
luxury ” ; but under certain conditions, for instance, 
if the plant were developing and perfecting a crop 
of seeds when nitrogen was deficient, some flies 
would be of material advantage. Darwin proved in 
the case of Drosera rotundif lia that a supply of 
animal food favoured the development of more 
numerous, larger, and more perfect seeds. 
